Monthly Archives: July 2014

FIDDLER with a Hupp

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20140720-134424.jpgToday is the birthday of Arkansas Repertory Theatre Producing Artistic Director Robert Hupp.

While the Rep’s 2014-2015 season hasn’t started yet, he is busy nonetheless. In addition to working on behind-the-scenes work on the upcoming season and planning for the Rep’s new black box and education space as part of Little Rock’s Creative Corridor, he is directing the Argenta Community Theater production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF.

FIDDLER opens on July 23 and runs through July 27. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Broadway opening of this Tony winning musical by Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick and Joseph Stein.

This marks the third summer the Argenta Community Theater has presented a summer musical. The first one was CABARET, which was also directed by Hupp.

In recognition of all of his efforts for the arts, Hupp was a 2013 recipient of the Governor’s Arts Awards.

48 Hour Film Project Awards Program tonight!

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2014 48hrThe Little Rock Film Festival  produced the 2014 48 Hour Film Project that kicked off June 27-29.  They had a great weekend of premiere screenings last week and are gearing up for the Awards Ceremony and screening of the Top 10 Audience Choice films.

The ceremony will be held at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater in the River Market in downtown Little Rock, home of the Little Rock Film Festival. The show starts at 7pm and tickets are only $12! The Top 10 audience picks will be screened throughout the ceremony as well as awards handed out for Best Story, Best Performance, Best Cinematography, Best Film and more.

 

TOP 10 AUDIENCE CHOICE:
Grundle Productions – “Silent But Deadly”
Team Bearshark – “Book of Lambs”
Flokati Films – “Sensitivity Training”
Just a Bunch of Losers Making a Movie – “Open Bar Closed Casket”
Misfit Cyclops – “Tellervisions”
Take 6 – “My Stepdad Zoltar”
Trieschmann Productions – “Tunnel Vision”
Rambunctious Roughians – “Manifesto”
Walkie Talke – “Tempus Voyage”
Faux Pas Productions – “Fortune’s Fool”

 

BEST OF NOMINEES:

​Best Film

  • Joshua Harrison, Team Bearshark “Book of Lambs”
  • Tim Trieschmann, Trieschmann Productions “Tunnel Vision”
  • Johnnie Brannon, Flokati Films “Sensitivity Training”
  • Alison Minor, Take 6 “My Stepdad Zoltar”

 

Best Director

  • Joshua Harrison, Team Bearshark, “Book of Lambs
  • David Bogard/Tim Trieschmann, Trieschmann Productions “Tunnel Vision”
  • Johnnie Brannon, Flokati Films, “Sensitivity Training”
  • Scott McEntire, Clever Alibi Productions, “Avarice”

 

Best Performance

  •  Jay SC Morgan, Grundle Productions “Silent But Deadly”
  • Alanna Newton, Trieschmann Productions “Tunnel Vision”
  • Bradley Gamble, Filmmaker’s Corner “Zoltar the Great!”
  • Tom Kagy, Clever Alibi Productions “Avarice”

 

Best Story

  • Take 6 “My Stepdad Zoltar”
  • Faux Pas Productions “Fortune’s Fool”
  • Misfit Cyclops “Teller Visions”
  • My Place Productions “Fate’s Helping Hand”

 

Best Editing

  • Team Bearshark “Book of Lambs”
  • Evan Pierce Productions “The Run Through”
  • Agency 501 “Into The Black”
  • East 8 Productions “Zoltar’s Wacky Adventure”

 

Best Music

  • Four on the Floor “Innocence Lost”
  • Walkie Talkie Productions “Tempus Voyage”
  • Take 6 “My Stepdad Zoltar”
  • Wah Bit “Clarity”

 

Best Cinematography

  • Agency 501 “Into the Black”
  • Walkie Talkie Productions “Tempus Voyage”
  • Trieschmann Productions “Tunnel Vision”
  • Faux Pas Productions “Fortune’s Fool”

 

Best Use of Character

  • Rambunctious Roughians “Manifesto”
  • Reel J “Fast Forward”
  • Misfit Cyclops “Teller Visions”
  • Take 6 “My Stepdad Zoltar”

 

Best Use of Prop

  • Not For You Productions “Who the Hell is SP?”
  • Just a Bunch of Losers Making a Movie “Open Bar Closed Casket”
  • East8 Productions “Zoltar’s Wacky Adventure”
  • New Trick Productions “Crossed”

 

Best Use of Dialogue

  • Arkansas Film & Music “Last Ride”
  • Grundle Productions “Silent But Deadly”
  • Agency 501 “Into the Black
  • Flokati Films “Sensitivity Training”
You can purchase your tickets to the Best of Ceremony and Top 10 Screening on Saturday, July 19th at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater here. 

 

Little Rock Look Back: Harold “Sonney” Henson LR’s 56th Mayor

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On July 18, 1928, future Little Rock Mayor Harold E. “Sonney” Henson, Jr. was born in Fayetteville to Harold E Henson Sr. and Dollie Croxdale Henson.  He and his sister Sara Sue grew up in Springdale.

Henson graduated from Springdale High School and was later inducted as one of the first inductees into the Springdale High School Hall of Fame where he participated in the state high school championship in football and basketball. He attended the University of Arkansas in 1945 on an athletic scholarship where he participated in three sports, golf, basketball and football, and graduated in 1949 with a degree in Business Administration.

He was active in ROTC at the university and graduated as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Henson served in Korea as a captain and commander during the Korean conflict. He attained the rank of major as an active member of the Army reserve post his duty in Korea.

Henson’s professional career began with First National Bank of Springdale and soon moved to Little Rock where he served as Vice President at the Worthen Bank on Asher Avenue. In 1962 he was elected to the City of Little Rock Board of Directors.  From January 1965 to December 1966, he served as mayor of Little Rock.  In November 1966, he was unopposed in his bid for a second term on the City Board.  However in October 1967, he resigned from the City Board because he was taking a position with a bank in Joplin, Missouri.

From 1966 to 1972, he served as President of Security National Bank Joplin.  While there, he was a Missouri amateur championship golfer.  Herbert Thomas then asked him to move to Ft. Smith to head up City National Bank (present Bank Corp South) where he served as President and CEO from 1972 to his retirement in 1993 at the age of 65. He continued his service to Bank Corp South as an active board member for several years.

Among his many civic activities throughout his career were the Springdale Junior Chamber of Commerce,  Sparks Regional Medical Center board of directors of Fort Smith, president and active member of the board for the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and Razorback Foundation, on the board for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences foundation, the Westark area council for Boy Scouts, the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, the Small Colleges of Arkansas, Leadership Fort Smith, the Community Rescue Mission and the President of the Arkansas Bankers Association to name a few.  In 1995 he received the meritorious service award by the Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor for his lifelong commitment to Arkansas sports.

Henson was married for 53 years to Helen Garrott Henson. He had four children, 16 grandchildren and one great-grand child.

“Prepare Ye” for SMTI’s production of GODSPELL at the Arkansas Rep this weekend

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ark repIt’s that time of year, again.  The time when the Arkansas Repertory Theatre’s halls reverberate with the sound of song, and walls shake from dancers’ leaps in the rehearsal studio above.  The SMTI young artists have officially taken over The Rep.

Summer Musical Theater Intensive (SMTI) is The Rep’s annual training program for aspiring young artists in Arkansas.  Under the direction of Resident Director and Director of Education Nicole Capri, SMTI is an intensive, audition-based theatre training program designed exclusively for motivated young artists who are serious about the arts and musical theatre.

“The SMTI program, at its core, is a training program.  It’s a program that immerses young people, young artists, in all facets of the performing artists, in a very intensive, intensively focused, two-week summer program,” said Producing Artistic Director Robert Hupp.

The SMTI staff is comprised of professional directors, choreographers, musicians and designers. Daily rehearsals are structured similarly to a professional summer stock experience and include instruction in musical theatre techniques, multi-media, costume and stage make-up, dance and vocal coaching.

Each session – broken up into Senior Session (ages 16-23) and Junior Session (ages 13-15) – involves intensive daily rehearsals culminating in a public workshop performance of a selected musical or musical revue. The first year of SMTI, they performed Godspell.  That musical (which was dreamed up in Little Rock) is returning this summer.

You can catch Godspell on Friday, July 18 at 7pm, Saturday, July 19 at 1pm and again that night at 7pm.

To purchase a ticket to a performance of Godspell, call The Rep Box Office at (501) 378-0405.

Fun and Games – HUNGER GAMES at Movies in the Park tonight

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MitP10 HungerGamesThe 2012 movie The Hunger Games is next up at Movies in the Park.

Oscar winner (though not for this role) Jennifer Lawrence leads the cast.  Other major roles are played by Stanley Tucci, Willow Shields, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Josh Hutcherson, Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Toby Jones and Lenny Kravitz.  Central Arkansas native Wes Bentley also stars in the movie.

The film is directed by Gary Ross, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Suzanne Collins and Billy Ray. It is based on the novel by Ms. Collins.

Now in its 10th season, Movies in the Park is a free outdoor film series at the First Security Amphitheater in Riverfront Park.  The move starts at dark (around 8:30).

Movies in the Park has grown to a season of eight films per year, on average, reaching audiences of up to 4,000 people. It’s a staple event in Central Arkansas. Communities from across the state, and the country, have reached out for guidance as they have tried to implement similar programs in the own communities.

Since 2008, the Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau has been managing Movies in the Park.

Tales from the South makes “A Lasting Impression” at Arkansas Arts Center tonight

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talesfromsouthEach Tuesday, Tales from the South features stories about life in the South told by the people who experienced them.  Tonight’s theme is “A Lasting Impression.”  It is an apt theme since the location will be the Arkansas Arts Center’s Best Impressions restaurant.

Tonight’s featured guests are Rich Shumate, Alice Vantrease, and Mickey Jordan.

Music is by Brad Williams and blues guitarist Mark Simpson.

“Tales From the South” is a radio show created and produced by Paula Martin Morell, who is also the show’s host. The show is taped live on Tuesday. The night is a cross between a house concert and a reading/show, with incredible food and great company. Tickets must be purchased before the show, as shows are usually standing-room only.

“Tales from the South” is a showcase of writers reading their own true stories. While the show itself is unrehearsed, the literary memoirs have been worked on for weeks leading up to the readings. Stories range from funny to touching, from everyday occurrences to life-altering tragedies.

Dinner is served from 5pm to 6:30pm, the show starts at 7pm.  Admission is $10.

You MUST purchase your ticket before the show.

Previous episodes of “Tales from the South” air on KUAR Public Radio on Thursdays at 7pm.  This program will air on July 31.

Little Rock Look Back: James A. Woodson, LR’s 37th Mayor

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IMG_0298On July 14, 1848, future Little Rock Mayor James Alexander Woodson was born in North Carolina.  The son of two prominent eastern families, he and his parents moved to Pine Bluff in 1849.  His father died within two weeks of the family’s arrival in Arkansas.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted as a drummer boy in the Ninth Arkansas infantry but was discharged because of his youth. He worked as a clerk at a general store in Pine Bluff. After the Civil War ended, he attended school in Virginia and Maryland before returning Pine Bluff. Upon his return he worked in the steamboat business and eventually started working in railroads. He was instrumental in putting together one of the forerunners of the Missouri Pacific Railroad and worked for them for 18 years.

Woodson moved to Little Rock in March 1881 and continued working for the railroad until 1891.  Working in the mercantile business allowed him more time to be engaged in civic affairs.  In 1895 he was elected mayor.   He handily defeated former mayor W. G. Whipple who was seeking to return to office.

During Mayor Woodson’s tenure, he oversaw renovations of the 1867 Little Rock City Hall (which was located at the time on the north side of Markham between Main Street and Louisiana Street).  He also championed the construction of a city hospital and the first free bridge across the Arkansas River.  Mayor Woodson was reelected in April 1897 and April 1899.

In April 1890, he resigned to take over the Arkansas and Southwestern Railway.  After restoring it to sound financial footing, he later led the Arkansas Asphalt Company.  That company provided the first asphalt for paving Little Rock city streets.

Woodson served as a director of the Little Rock board of trade (forerunner to the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce), director of the Mercantile Trust Company and president of the state board of trade (forerunner of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce).

Woodson married Virginia Lanier in 1868.  They had six children, five of whom lived to adulthood.  Mayor Woodson died on October 19, 1908 and is buried in Mt. Holly Cemetery.  His wife lived until 1937 and is buried next to him.  Also buried in Mount Holly are their children James Alexander Woodson, Benjamin Morehead Woodson and Gertrude Woodson Hardeman; each of whom died before their mother.  Mrs. Hardeman’s husband and son are also buried in Mount Holly.

In 2013, Mayor Woodson was one of the characters portrayed at the annual Parkview High School “Tales from the Crypt” program at Mount Holly.